


Ren and Yu: The Dream Team

by Greenhi



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, Persona Series
Genre: Multi, Persona 3 Spoilers, Persona 4 Spoilers, Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers, Persona 5: The Royal Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25896859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greenhi/pseuds/Greenhi
Summary: They had one mission, to save a man who sealed a god for over a decade. It was just them, and it seemed like an impossible task. But together, there is nothing these two wildcards can't handle.
Relationships: Aigis/Arisato Minato, Aigis/Persona 3 Protagonist, Aigis/Yuuki Makoto (Persona Series), Amamiya Ren/Narukami Yu, Amamiya Ren/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Kujikawa Rise/Narukami Yu, Kujikawa Rise/Persona 4 Protagonist, Kurusu Akira/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi, Persona 4 Protagonist/Persona 5 Protagonist, Persona 5 Protagonist/Yoshizawa Sumire | Yoshizawa Kasumi
Comments: 39
Kudos: 121





	1. Prologue: Ren and Yu First Meet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu and Ren meet for the first time ever and form an everlasting bond.

(Yu's POV)

Ever since he moved to Tokyo, Yu Narukami had been working in the detective agency for 5 years now due to his want to work with Naoto and follow in his uncle's footsteps, and in that time, he's gotten quite tired of it. Sure, it was fun at first. But, none of the cases come even close to the Adachi case. Not to mention, the people he works with are so stupid. He doesn't like calling people that, but that's who he would describe his co-workers. They mess up any and every piece of evidence he finds. Overall, the job was quite boring. Well, there was one interesting case. Not because the case itself was interesting, but because Yu met one of the most interesting people he had ever seen. 

"In other news, Japanese politician Toranosuke Yoshida's office has recently been robbed an unknown suspect. A detective is currently on the case." The news reporter announced as Yu switched off the TV.

"Rise, I got a new case today. I got to go to work. I'll see you at 9."

"Alright, senpai! make sure to come home safe!"

"I love you."

"I love you too!"

* * *

"Yu! the witness is here!" One man yelled. Yu entered a fully black room where a man with black hair and what looked to be fake glasses. 

"Hello," The man said in a polite tone.

"Hello there," Yu said in a fake voice, "Mr. Yoshida's speechwriter, Ren Amamiya, I assume?"

"That's me," Ren said in a calm tone, "I assume you think I have some information on the robbing Yoshida."

"Well, why did you go back after the day at the job ended?"

"I forgot my glasses in the back room. When I got out of the building, I looked at the window because I wondered if Mr. Yoshida had left yet. So, I checked the window, and then I saw someone in the window. I thought it was Mr. Yoshida. He touched a glass table an-"

"That glass table? So, we can find fingerprints from that table?"

"I mean, yeah. Well, I assume so, at least."

"Interesting," Yu said, grabbing his imaginary goatee, "Tell me the rest of the story."

"Alright," Ren says in a stern voice, "I went inside to check on Mr. Yoshida because it was quite late and I wanted him to take a break, but as I went to my car to get the keys to the building, I saw a man with grey hair walk past me and an orange t-shirt walk past me. I knew for sure that he didn't work in Mr. Yoshida since the office was quite small, and he was holding some bag."

"Some thief," Yu mumbled, "He got caught by somebody walking to his car, and we found fingerprints."

"Yeah, seems like a petty thief,"

"Well, let me get this straight. A man with an orange t-shirt and grey hair who doesn't work for Yoshida was seen at the place where you work?"

"That's right."

"Interesting," Yu says, jotting down his notes, "Well, thank you for the information, Ren. You're more helpful than my co-workers."

"Uh, thank you?” He asks in a confused tone, “May I please go back to work now? My girlfriend might be worried if she finds out I'm not going to work."

"Well, we are going to the same place. I'm technically going to Yoshida’s office too."

"Huh. Well, if you want, you can hitch a ride with me."

"Honestly, that would be great. My car has been acting up lately, so someone dropping me off would be great."

"Alright, but it's going to cost you," Ren joked.

"Alright, here's your 3 million yen." Yu joked back.

* * *

Ren was driving the car, and Yu was eating his lunch. Sure, it was uncomfortable eating in the car, but Yu needed to. He didn't want to waste time eating by outside of the car. He had a job to do, and he wasn't going to waste time eating outside of the car. The drive was 30 minutes, so Yu decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, how's working for Yoshida going?"

"It's going good. It could be better, though." Ren answered, "How is detective work?"

"Extremely boring, most people at that I work with are not helpful in the slightest."

"Well, I can't relate since I don't work with anyone at my job. Being a speechwriter is a solo task, so I can't truly work with anyone."

"That must feel weird not working with anyone, right?"

"Yeah. It's quite a different experience since I'm used to working with friends back in college."

"What college did you go to?"

"The University of Tokyo, what about you?"

"I went to the University of Kyoto."

"Interesting," Ren muttered. Ren kept driving as Yu finished his lunch. Yu had a weird feeling of trust in Ren. He just met him, but he felt like he could put his faith in him. It was quite a weird feeling, something Yu couldn't figure out at all yet, even as they arrived at their destination.

”Alright, Ren, We’re here at the office. You can go to work now,” Yu told Ren as both walked away from the car, “I hope to see you again someday.”

"Likewise."

* * *

The thief turned out to be Anagi Shigno, a petty, poor boy who was planning to steal some important information info some reason. He stole some papers, most of which were quite unimportant. After finding out where he lived, Yu went to confront him.

_Ding Dong_

“Hello, who’s there?” a grey-haired individual asked.

"Are you Anagi Shigno?" Yu asked back.

"That's me," The grey-haired person, now classified as Anagi Shigno, stated, "Now who are you?"

"My name is Yu Narukami, and I work for the detective agency," Yu stated, "I assume you've heard that Toranosuke Yoshida's office has recently been robbed."

"Yes, I indeed have."

"Well, it turns out that you are the number 1 suspect for the case, and therefore I would like you to come with m-" Anagi holds up a gun to his head, "What are you doing?"

"Come with me," Anagi said. Even though Yu didn't want to follow him, he didn't honestly have a choice if he truly wanted to live. Anagi seemed to have caught him.

"Tie this rope around your han-" Anagi just fell to the ground as he had just been punched by Ren, who stood behind him.

"How did you get here, Ren?" Yu asked, still confused.

"I was walking around the neighborhood, and then I saw you here, being held at gunpoint. So, I decided to help a friend out by saving him from imminent death," Ren explained as Yu carried Anagi's body to the car. "So, uh, do you have a warrant for that?" Yu held up his warrant as Ren nodded.

"Perhaps we can meet sometime soon?"

"Maybe," Ren said, looking at his phone, "Wait, I got to go. It was nice meeting you, Yu, but I hope we can meet one day again."

"Likewise."

* * *

Anagi had been testified as guilty with the evidence that Yu and Ren found. As he watched Anagi getting hauled over by the police, Yu was still wondering about Ren and why he felt so trustworthy. Unluckily for him, however, he would have to wait another year to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all! new fan-fic. It would be great if you left a comment and possibly a kudos, I'm a shill! I really liked the idea of a fic where it's just Yu and Ren (and Morgana but we will cross that bridge when we get to it) trying to save Makoto. The rest of the groups will come later in the story, but for now, it's Yu and Ren. Something else I want mention, this chapter was poorly writted, because the chapter was last minute. I promise, the chapters get better. Well, I have to leave now, bye!  
> P.S Ren is 20 and Yu is 24 in the prologue, but in the rest the story, they're 1 year older.


	2. Dinner at The Narukamis' House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yu and Rise invite Ren and Sumire for dinner.

(Ren's POV)

_Knock Knock_

"Senpai, are you sure this is the place?" Sumire asked.

“Well, Yu did say the address was 744, so I think this must be the place,” Ren said, knocking on the door once again. The door slowly started to creak and soon flung wide open as Ren and Sumire saw Rise Narukami standing in the front door.  
  


It’s been about a year since the case Ren and Yu solved, and in that time, they’ve been accustomed to each other. Ren even met Rise, Yu’s wife, and a famous pop-singer. However, they only met for a few hours at a time. Today was different, however. Today night, Ren brought Sumire to Yu’s house for a dinner meet-up, which was planned to go for 3-4 hours.

“Are you Ren Amamiya and Sumire Yoshizawa?” She asked.

“That’s us,” Ren said while quietly tapping the door.

“Oh! Then you can come in!” Ren nods as he and Sumire walk through the door. While Sumire and Rise talk near the front door for some time, Ren walks into the living room where Ren sees Yu sitting on a couch while watching some golf on the TV.

“Never thought of you as a golf person Yu,” Ren teased as Yu rolled his eyes, “I have a bag. Where should I put it?”

“You can just put it next to the lamp,” Yu said as Ren gently set down his bag and pulled a cat out of the bag.

“I brought my cat with m-“ Ren started but was cut off by Yu.

“No! Rise is allergic to cats. I would recommend keeping it upstairs, in the TV room,” Yu yelled as Ren took a cat house out of his box, puts the black cat in it, and went to put the cat upstairs. After putting the feline upstairs, Ren felt a bit guilty.

“Sorry, had I known that Rise was allergic, I wouldn’t have brought Morgana,” Ren apologized.

“It’s fine. I had no idea you would bring a cat here, so I couldn’t I truly couldn't tell you,” Yu spoke, “Also, Morgana, eh? That’s a funny name for a cat.”

“Well, he named himself…” Ren mumbled.

“Well, whatever his name’s origin is, please keep him in the box. I don’t want Rise to get sick.”

“I understand. I’m just as overprotective with Sumire.” Ren said as Rise and Sumire walked into the living room, laughing.

“What was that about being overprotective, senpai?” Sumire teased while tickling Ren in his armpit. Sumire was having fun tickling Ren when her stomach grumbled. “Excuse me.”

“I think we should all eat now. I am getting quite hungry myself,” Yu said while Sumire was fidgeting with her fingers, “Also, I don’t think you and I have met before. You’re Ren’s girlfriend, right?” Yu asked as Sumire's face lit up like a light-bulb.

“Sumire is still uncomfortable about people calling her my boyfriend.”

“Senpai!” Sumire yells as she tries to defend herself, “I was just a bit agitated, and I-“ Then Sumire sees Ren staring at her, smiling.

“Senpai! I thought I told you not to tease me!” Sumire yelled.

“Sorry! It’s just too cute when you blush like that.” Ren defended.

“Alright, you two love birds can talk when we’re eating dinner because I am famished!” Rise announced as Yu set up the table with a very conflicted look.

“Hey, Yu,” Ren called. “You seem to be a bit scared about something.”

“Yeah. I didn’t expect you two to come so early, so I haven’t finished cooking dinner yet.”

“Oh,” Ren looks at Sumire as Sumire looks back at him, “Well, maybe we can help you?”

“Senpai and I are great at cooking so that we could help you out, Yu-senpai!”

“That would be great! I could maybe help out too!” Rise said in an excited tone.

"The more, the merrier,” Yu said, “I’m making curry, and it would be great we can finish by 7 o’clock,” Ren’s face seemed to show excitement.

* * *

“Well, we’re finished cooking now,” Yu announced, ”Time to dig in.”

“Thank you for the food!” Sumire yells in an excited tone as Yu and Rise look in awe at Sumire at the speed of how fast she finished, ”Um, may I please have seconds?”

“Sure,” Yu said, still in shock at how fast Sumire ate.

“Hey,” Rise whispered into Ren’s ears, “I don’t want to be rude, but how is she able to eat so fast?”

“I mean, she is a gymnast, so she needs to eat as much as she can to stay fit.”

“So, she’s a gymnast?” Ren nodded, “Huh, never knew that.”

“I brought seconds,” Yu said, coming in with 3 medium-sized plates of curry and 1 large-sized, “So Sumire, how is being a gymnast going?”

“How did _you_ know I was a gymnast?”

“I’ve actually seen you on TV before. You seem to be quite good at gymnastics.”

“Thank you, Yu-senpai. I really try my best, so it’s good to see people support me,” Sumire said, in a quite happy tone, “As for how I’m doing, I’m doing great! I’ve won the national level, and I’m going to compete 2 months from now on an international level.”

“I also noticed that you call us ‘senpai’ Sumire,” Yu stated as Sumire's face started to glow.

“Yeah, she does that sometimes. Though, she is still in college, so because of that, she might use honorifics every now and then,” Ren stated, “However, I do hope she continues doing it after college since it is quite cute when she does it.”

“Senpai!” Sumire yells.

“Believe it or not, though, Rise does the same thing.” Yu says, taking a spoonful of curry, “However, I think she does it cuter.”

“Senpai!” Rise yells.

“Are you sure Rise is cuter? I think Sumire cuter.”

“No, I think Rise is cuter.”

“Senpai!” Both Rise and Sumire yell in unison.

“Sorry,” Ren says, frightened for his life.

“It’s just that, as Ren said before, you two are too cute not to tease.”

“Ok, maybe we’ll start talking about a topic that won’t give the girls a heart attack,” Ren said, “Like how’s being a pop singer going, Rise?”

“It’s a bit tiring, but other than that, it’s going great! I love singing for people and entertaining them. It’s quite fun.” Rise said.

“Well, that’s good to hear.”

“Since we’re on the topic of jobs, how’s working for Yoshida going?” Yu asked.

“Oh yeah, I haven’t really worked much for Mr. Yoshida.”

“Wait, then how are you paying your bills?”

“I have 2 more jobs. I also work in a small café called Leblanc, and I’m currently learning therapy,” Ren announced.

“Therapy, eh?” Yu asked.

“Yeah, I decided to learn more about therapy because of an old friend of mine. I want to help people in need some help their mental state.”

“Interesting,” Yu said.

“Ooh! I want to know more about this old friend of yours.” Rise says in an excited tone as Ren and Sumire’s smile faltered, “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I trigger a bad memory?”

“We would prefer not to talk about him…” Ren murmured.

“While he isn’t dead, we don’t like to talk him,” Sumire said, looking down.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, Rise-senpai. Nothing bad happened to him. It’s just, we would rather not talk about him.”

“Well then, let’s change topics once again. Like, how’s detective work going, Yu?” Ren asked.

“It’s just as boring as it usually is. Nobody is helpful, and all of them are just plain stupid.”

“Having met a few of them when I came for lunch in Yu’s office, I can confirm that he is correct,” Rise mentioned as Yu got up and went to the fridge to get some wine.

“Do any of you 3 want some wine?” Yu asked.

“No, thank you, Yu.”

"Senpai and I don’t really like wine much, so we would prefer not to drink any Yu-senpai.”

“I would love to, senpai.”

“Alright, Ren and Sumire, your choice. Here’s a bottle of wine, Rise.” Yu says while handing the bottle to Rise.

“Thank you, senpai!”

“Anyways, continuing Rise’s story, my co-workers aren’t the smartest. By ‘aren’t the smartest,’ I mean all of them together have a collective 7 brain cells,” Yu continues, “The amount they have helped on the case is less than 5%. They do not help at all, and I think they are pretty annoying.”

“I feel bad for you, Yu-senpai. Usually, all of my gymnastics classmates are nice.”

“I still don’t work with anyone in my jobs.”

“What about Sojiro-san, senpai?”

“I feel like Sojiro’s more of a father than a co-worker.”

“Well, who’s this random Sojiro guy you keep talking about?” Rise asked out of the blue.

“We only mentioned him once, Rise,” Ren stated, “But anyway, he was my caretaker in Tokyo when I was under curfew there.”

“You were under curfew in Tokyo?” Yu asked, “How? I mean, you don’t seem like the person to be placed under curfew. Even though we’ve only known each other for a year, you don’t seem like the person to be placed under curfew.” Ren then proceeded to talk about Masayoshi Shido and his case.

* * *

"... And then I finally got out of prison, and finally went home to my parents." Ren finished as Yu looked astonished. Ren left all the Phantom thieves stuff out, but he almost explained everything else.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Ren," Yu said in an apologetic tone.

"Well, now that's over with, it's time for the king's game!" Rise yelled.

"The what, Rise-senpai?" Sumire asked.

"Now let's get the popsicle sticks, Yu get the popsicle sticks!" Rise yelled before passing out.

"Is she really that drunk?"

"She only drank one bottle. How did Rise-senpai pass-out like that?"

"Let me check the year the wine was made," Yu checked, "Whoa! 50 years old. Mine was only 6 years old."

"Seems like she may be out for a while."

"Yeah, I'll carry her to her room." Yu says while bridal carrying Rise upstairs, "I think you two should go."

"Alright, Yu, we'll see you later."

"Bye, Yu-senpai!" Both Ren and Sumire both walk to the door.

"Well, that was fun."

"Sure was senpai! Though, I can't help shake off the feeling that we're missing something," Sumire ponders as Ren's eyes widen at a realization.

"Oh! I forgot Morgana," Ren says, rubbing his neck, "I should probably go get him. You should stay here." Ren walks up the long stairs and into the TV room as he sees Yu Entering the TV screen.

"Ren! I thought you left."

"I went up here to get Morgana, and how are you entering the TV screen?"

"Look, it's a long story, and I'll explain it later, but please don't tell anyone about this," Ren thought about it.

"Alright, but under one condition."

"What would that condition would that be?" Yu asked as Ren took Morgana out of the box and looked at him until he finally answered.

"You have to show me what's on the other side of that TV," Yu thought about it hard and decided to agree.

"Fine, but you have to stay behind me."

"Alright," Ren muttered as he, Yu, and Morgana went into the screen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should have the next chapter by next Thursday, anyways remember to leave a comment!


	3. Into the TV world

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren and Yu are given a sight of their ultimate mission: Save Makoto Yuki.

(Yu's POV)

Yu looked back at the TV after he entered, and he didn't see anyone. He didn't see Ren or Morgana, and he didn't understand why. However, he did hear a voice coming from behind him.

"So, this is a part of the metaverse, right Joker?" The boyish voice said.

"I assume so. We are in our metaverse outfit, so it has to be," The boy's voice realized, "I am a bit confused about how we entered through a TV and not through the Nav," Yu recognized this voice as Ren, but the less boyish voice was unknown.

”Ren, is that you?”

”Sure is,” Ren announces as he and the other figure, which seemed to be some cat creature, walk out of the shadows.

”Why are you wearing that ridiculous costume, and who that?” Yu asks, pointing at the cat creature.

The cat creature introduced himself, “The name’s Morgana, but you have to call me Mona. I’m known as a stunning ladies-man, nice to meet you,” the creature, now identified as Mona, announced.

”Well, I wouldn’t say ladies-MAN, I would think ladies-cat would make more sense.”

”For the last time, Joker, I am not a...” Mona stopped for a second, “Well, I suppose I am.”

”I’m a bit confused about something. Why did Mona call you Joker?”

”We use code-names in the metaverse since we don’t want the shadows knowing who we are.”

”You know about shadows, huh?”

"I do indeed."

"Speaking of shadows, let me put my glasses on," Yu put his glasses on, but Joker looked confused.

"You need glasses to see in the metaverse?" Ren asked.

"Just to see shadows."

"Huh. Interesting," Ren muttered, "Well, we'll talk about all of this later, but I need to-" Just then, a shadow popped out of nowhere.

”Well, time to fight, Raoul!” Ren yelled. “Go down.”

“Izanagi!” Yu yelled, “Take them out.”

“Diego!” Morgana yelled, “Miracle punch!” 

"Mona, do you know what this shadow is weak to?"

"It seems to be weak to fire attacks! Try using some of them." Mona yelled.

"Orpheus Picaro!" Ren yelled, "Agidyne!" 

"Time to finish him, Sumeo-Okami!" Yu shouted, "Take him down, Burning Petals!" The shadow fell to its knees.

"So, you can use a persona too, and you have the wild card ability? Not to mention, you don't have a thief outfit, so how are you able to spawn a persona?" Ren asked, "You don't even have a mask. You use some weird card to summon a persona instead."

"Yeah, I was going to ask that too. Why don't you have any Tarot cards?"

"I'll ask what you mean by that later, but I have to go home now. We need to talk about this later."

"Yeah, we'll meet up tomorrow to talk about this," Yu says as he and Ren exit the TV world.

* * *

"Well, see you later, Ren," Yu says, walking to his room.

"See you," Ren muttered as he walked downstairs.

_"I should probably go to sleep now,"_ Yu thought as he walked into the room, and heard Ren and Sumire talking from downstairs and decided to go check on them.

"You took quite a while, senpai."

"Yeah, sorry. Yu and I got a bit carried away talking to each other," Ren lied while rubbing his neck.

"I understand senpai, I do that with my friends sometimes," Sumire smiles, "However, I'm quite sleepy. I'm going to sleep in the car if that's fine with you."

"It's fine. Besides, you look the cutest when you're asleep."

"S-senpai!" Sumire blushes so hard that her cheeks become as red as a tomato.

"Sorry," Ren apologized, "Let's go to the car now." Ren and Sumire walk out of the house as Yu yawns and walks into his room, and falls right asleep.

* * *

Yu heard that infamous song as he stood in a room, a room that didn't seem to be the same the last time he visited it all that time ago. It seemed like what it was before, a limousine, but it was mixed with a prison. He didn't understand why it was mixed with a prison cell, but he had bigger fish to fry. When he looked up to see what else was there, he saw 4 people. Ren, who was in the cell across from his, was also open, Margaret, standing firm next to a desk, a little girl who seemed to be another velvet room attendant, and standing next to Margaret, and finally Igor. He then heard that voice, that voice that sent chills down his spine.

"Welcome to the velvet room," Igor said in his infamous tone. 

"Igor!" Both Yu and Ren yelled at the same time.

"I haven't seen you in a while," Margaret announces to Yu in her iconic velvet room attendant voice.

"Welcome back trickster, I haven't seen you in a while either," The little girl said to Ren.

"I have many questions."

"I do too."

"I will answer any of your questions. So please, ask anything you want," Igor says in a soothing voice.

"Who is she?" Yu asked, pointing at the little girl.

"My name is Lavenza. Pleased to meet you, other trickster," Lavenza said.

"Other trickster?"

"She calls me trickster, so it makes sense that you would be other trickster," Ren said from across the room.

"Well, pleased to meet you, Lavenza."

"Pleased to meet you too, other trickster," Lavenza announced, "Now, would you like to introduce yourself to the first trickster, sister."

"Hello there, man who my sister calls trickster," Margaret introduced, "Nice to meet you. My name is Margaret." Margaret held out her hand as Ren took the handshake.

"Ren Amamiya, but you can apparently call me trickster," Ren said, "Also, I would recommend opening Yu's cell since he's still trapped in there," Lavenza walked to Yu and opened his cell.

"One more question, why does the velvet room look so different?" Yu asked.

"I was going to ask that too."

"This is because this room is now both a combination of your hearts, with the trickster's heart being a prison, and the other trickster's heart being a limousine," Lavenza told both of them, "Now, if either of you have no more question, my master would like to talk to the both of you," Ren and Yu walked over to Igor.

"I have a mission for the both of you," Igor continued, starting a new story, "There was once a wildcard named Makoto Yuki. He had quite a similar adventure to the both of you, except he fought a corrupt goddess, better known as Nyx. A creature not inherently evil, but whose feelings over humankind are determined by the masses' will. However, to beat her, Makoto had to seal Nyx to save the entire world from destruction, which killed him in the process. However, there is one way to bring him back and re-save the world." Ren had an uncomfortable look on his face.

"So, what is this way that you're talking about?" Yu asked.

"To explain the way to bring him back from the dead, I must explain something else," Igor started, but then was cut off by Margaret.

"Master, may Lavenza and I please explain this? I think us two could explain it better together," Igor silently nodded his head to Margaret request as she started to explain, "We later found out that the purpose of the seal created by the Makoto was not to seal away Nyx herself, who is not inherently evil, but to prevent humanity's despair from calling out to Nyx and bringing about the fall of humanity once more. After she was sealed, humanity's subconscious fell into despair and wish for death constantly rebirths a monster called Erebus that summons Nyx to destroy the world. However, the rest of Makoto's group managed to defeat Erebus. However, we found out recently that Nyx and Erebus would be back one day, and that day is exactly a month from now," Yu's eyes widen.

"Nyx has been growing more powerful every day, and in a month, she would be able to break out of the seal. Now, in exchange for all of the power he got, Nyx had to sacrifice her defense. She may be more powerful, but she has a weakness that you can save Makoto and seal Nyx for good if you exploit. This is where the story starts to involve you, tricksters," Lavenza explained.

"One wildcard may not be able to seal the god of death. However, maybe three can."

"You want us to seal Nyx?" Yu asked.

"That means we'll die, right?" Ren realized with a worried look on his face.

"Thankful not," Lavenza answered.

"If only 2 people seal her away, that would be enough to seal her away for good, but both would die within a year. But, if a third person came, all three people would live another 70 years," Margaret told them, "So if you can unseal Makoto, defeat Nyx, and then reseal her together, you could succeed and survive at the same time."

"That's the plan, at least," Lavenza finished.

"The place you must go to is to a small city called Iwatodai, a small island city owned by the Kirjo corporation. There you will find a tall tower known as Tartarus, a tower where your mission will take place."

"Do I bring my investigation team to help me fight against Nyx?"

"I would recommend bringing them, and possibly your group too, trickster. Though they aren't necessary to succeed, however, it would be great to bring them along," Margaret stated.

"That is your mission, good luck on your journey," Igor says.

"We will be here if you need to fuse your personas, tricksters," Lavenza said as Yu's vision faded to black.

* * *

Yu woke up in a cold sweat. He woke to brush his teeth, eat breakfast, and take a shower. After that, he decided to talk to the rest of the investigation team.

** Investigation team :)  **

Yu: Hey guys, summer starting soon, so why don't we meet soon?

Yosuke: sorry man dad's making me do a tone of work

Chie: That's not how you spell ton! But anyway, yeah, sadly I'm busy too.

Yukkio: Sorry, but I have to deal with the inn. :(

Kanji: Sorry, man, I'm busy too.

Naoto: Sorry, Yu, detective work is killing me. I hope you understand because you're a detective too.

Yu is conflicted about telling them the situation or letting them live their lives as Ren and Yu do the work.

_"I think me and Ren will handle it."_

Yu: Alright, hope we'll meet soon enough.

Yu closed his phone and decided to tell Rise, who already woke up at this point, about the trip. 

"Hey, Yu."

"Yeah?"

"What happened last night?" Rise asked, "I don't remember anything other than Ren and Sumire coming over to the house."

"You got drunk yesterday and passed out."

"Really?"

"Yeah, the wine bottle you drank was 50 years old for some reason," Yu stated as he got a text.

Ren: Hey, should we tell the girls to go to Iwatodai with us

Yu: probably not.

"Hey, Rise," Yu called, "Ren and I are going to this place called Iwatodai for some work stuff."

"For how long?"

"A month."

"AN ENTIRE MONTH!"

"Sorry, but we have to."

"It's fine, but please come back safe."

"I promise I will. You have to trust me." Yu promised, "I'm going to be leaving tomorrow."

"Alright, we get to spend the entire day together at least," Rise said, "I'm going to do the dishes. May you please help me, senpai?" Yu nods as he gets another text from Ren.

"Wait for a second, Ren's texting me about the time to pick him up," Yu lied.

Ren: Hey, so my friends who are persona users are busy apparently 

Yu: Sadly, so are mine. However, I would recommend bringing Mona along since he knows about a lot of this.

Ren: Seems that we are indeed alone here

Yu: Sadly so. However, our arcana are with us.

Yu was a bit frightened about what was going to happen next. But he knew that no matter what would happen, he has Ren, and even Mona, by his side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was late. School has been constantly beating me down, so I might not upload as much. If you were wondering what happened to the rest of the velvet room attendants, they're important for later. Anyways, thanks for reading and goodbye.


	4. Road Trip: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren and Yu go on a 6-hour car ride to Iwatadoi, talking about their own adventures along the way.

(Ren's POV)

Ren was sitting in bed, thinking about the mission he was assigned to do by Igor. They were leaving tomorrow for Iwatodai, and Ren still had to pack and inform his friends for the meet. Ren also had to tell Sumire that they were leaving for Iwatodai soon, but he didn't know how to. Should he ask her to come with them with Iwatodai, or should he tell her that he and Yu were going there by themselves? He couldn't answer this question, so he had to ask his partner.

Ren: Hey, should we tell the girls to go to Iwatodai with us

Yu: probably not.

After he got the blunt answer to his question, he then decided to finish another task, to text his friends about meeting up. It was the easiest thing to do next, so he thought he could quickly get it over.

** The Phantom Thieves :) **

Ren: Hey guys, summer is here. Should we meet up IRL?

Ryuji: Sry dude I cant mak it I got to practice 4 track

Ann: I'm also busy with some stuff. I have to be prepared for a photoshoot soon. Plus, I have a movie to act in.

Yusuke: My Apologies, I have to work on some art for the gallery, so I might be busy for some time.

Makoto: Sorry guys, I have to cover for someone this entire month. I am so sorry.

Futaba the great: I have a deadline to get to for the next game, and I’ve been procrastinating a lot, so I don’t have much time, lol.

Haru: Sorry guys, but Okumaru food's stocks are at an all-time high, and I need to try and keep it that way. I apologize.

_"Seems they're all busy."_

Ren: Hopefully, we're able to meet soon

_"Well, the phantom thieves aren't coming, but at least we got Yu's team, right?"_

Ren: Hey, so my friends who are persona users are busy apparently

Yu: Sadly, so are mine. However, I would recommend bringing Mona along since he knows about a lot of this.

_"Well, shit,"_

Ren: Seems that we are indeed alone here

Yu: Sadly so. However, our arcana are with us. 

It seemed like the circumstances were against him and Yu. But he had to do this, or else the entire world would be under the control of Nyx. They only had one chance, one chance to save everyone. They had to do this, or else everything would be for not. He was lying down in bed when he decided to finish something else. He walked downstairs and into Sumire's room.

"Good morning Sumi."

"Good morning, senpai."

"How's my dearest little violet doing?"

"I'm happy that my 3rd year of college is finally over," Sumire answered, gently rubbing her eyes, "So, have you talked with the group about meeting up?" Ren sighed.

"They all declined and said they were busy."

"Aw, I was excited to meet them again." Ren nodded.

"Yeah, I was too," Ren told Sumire as he decided to tell her about the news, "Also, I have something to tell you, Sumi."

"Please, tell me, senpai."

"Yu and I are going to a place called Iwatodai for some 'work' related reasons," Ren explained as he sat down on Sumire's bed, "We're leaving tomorrow, and we'll come back in about a month."

"A month seems a bit long, and tomorrow! That seems a bit too soon," Sumire looked concerned for Ren as she almost got up to go brush her teeth.

"I'm sorry, but we have to go there," Ren apologized, "I'll go make breakfast now," Ren stood up from the bed, but Sumire stopped him from exiting the room and entering the kitchen.

"No way, senpai! If this is your last day here, I want to cook breakfast for you today."

"Alright, you can make breakfast," Ren said while kissing her on the cheek, "But first, you have to brush your teeth," Ren watched as Sumire went to the bathroom and Morgana entered the room. Morgana quickly leaped on the bed as the cat started licking his paws.

"So, you're going Iwatodai. I believe I've heard lady Lavenza mention that place a few times."

"I think it would be great if you came with us, Mona," Ren recommended, "I think we could use you for the mission," Morgana looked confused.

"What is this 'mission'?" Morgana asked.

"Yu and I will explain tomorrow. I don't think that I'm qualified to talk about this by myself."

"Wait, is it about the metaverse, or what?"

"You'll see," Ren gave Morgana his famous Joker smile.

* * *

_1 day later..._

"Are you sure you got everything, senpai?"

"I think so. I mean, I quadruple checked all of the bags, so I must have everything," Just then, Yu arrived at the house in his SUV, "Well, bye, Sumi. I'm off to Iwatodai. I'll see you in a month," Ren and Sumire's lips gently touched each other.

"Bye, senpai!" Ren then quickly realized he forgot to tell Sumire that he was bringing Morgana with him.

"Also, I'm bringing Mona with me since I think he wanted to come as well."

"Hey, you're bringing Mona but not me!" Ren didn't know how to answer that question, so he had to come up with a quick lie.

"The person that we're meeting with wanted Morgana to come with us," Ren lied.

"Fine, I'll see you soon, senpai!"

"See you, Sumi," Ren exited out of the door and walked over to the SUV, and then put all of his baggage inside the trunk. He then proceeded to enter the car, slamming the door shut. He sat in the backseat and took out a bag he didn’t put in the trunk. He then looked at him and proceeded to look at Yu.

”Hey, Ren."

"Hello, Yu."

"Do you think you got everything?" Yu said, starting the car and the navigation. Then, they were off to the Iwatodai.

”Yep, including this little trouble-maker,” Ren took Morgana out of the bag.

"Finally! I'm free from the bag!" Morgana yelled, "Now, what is this mission Ren kept me waiting for an explanation," Yu looked dumbfounded.

"You didn't explain the plan to Morgana?"

"I thought it would be better if we explained it together since even Margaret and Lavenza couldn't explain the story without the other one helping," Ren defended, "Besides, I suck at explaining. I think you would certainly help to explain it if you helped me."

"Fine, I'll help you explain the story," Ren and Yu then explain the entire story to Morgana, including all they know about the fellow wildcard Makoto Yuki, how and why he sealed the goddess of death, the information they know about Nyx and Erebus, how and why w they plan to re-seal Nyx and Erebus, and why they're going to Iwatodai.

"...And, that's the end," Ren finished.

"I believe we're going to get more info for Igor and the attendants when we reach the city of Iwatodai."

"So, what do you think?" Morgana thought for a second.

"It seems dangerous. Are you sure that you won't die?"

"We have no idea, but it's either everyone in the world dies, or it's just Yu and me," Ren looked down, "We have to hope for the best, and that we end up surviving."

"Alright then, I'm in."

"Well, you didn't REALLY have a choice in the matter," Ren said, "Yu, how long will the drive to Iwatodai be?" Ren watched as Yu switched the navigation.

"6 hours and 3 minutes."

"6 hours!" Both Ren and Morgana were extremely confused.

"Yep, it seems we'll be here for quite a while," Ren thought for a few minutes and then had an idea.

"Well, I have an idea about what we could do in all of this time."

"Okay, What's your idea?"

"I think we should exchange knowledge about our journeys since that would help both of us get more knowledge about the current situation."

"I think that would be a smart idea for persona related reasons and just to get more knowledge about each other."

"Morgana and I will start first,"

"Alright then, what's your story about?" Ren smiles.

"Have you ever heard of the Phantom Thieves of Heart?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for being late, but I’ve been having an unnatural amount of homework lately. I decided to split this chapter up into 2 parts because it was taking to long to write. I hope to get the next one out by next week, and it’s gonna be quite short. Anyways, thank you for reading and goodbye!


	5. Road Trip: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Ren and Yu continue with their road trip, they encounter multiple problems along the way.

(Yu's POV)

After Ren asked that question, Yu knew what Ren was going to say next. Yu had heard about the Phantom thieves in the news, and it seemed obvious what Ren was going to say.

"So, have you heard of them?" Ren asked.

"Seen them on the news a lot," Yu answered, "Let me guess, you're the leader of the Phantom Thieves."

"Right on," Ren nods, "No wonder you're a detective."

"So, why don't you start the story?"

"Alrighty then. It started when..." Ren starts talking about everything, from why he was sent to Japan in the first place, to meeting Ryuji, Morgana, and Ann, to defeating Kamoshida, and the true forming of the Phantom Thieves. He also explained how the Metaverse works since Yu didn't understand how palaces work, which Ren found was strange. It almost felt like his version of the Metaverse worked differently. On the other hand, however, Yu was quite fascinated with Ren's story.

"I never thought a teacher could be so corrupt," Yu pondered, "Since they're supposed to be the leaders of a school."

"Yeah, it sure felt strange at first. But, we 4 managed to defeat Kamoshida and take his treasure," Ren then starts again, talking about everything after Kamoshida's heart was changed all the way to fighting Yaldabaoth, with a few interjections from Yu asking questions like "How did 5 teenagers manage to find the true identity of a mafia boss but the police couldn't?" or "Why does this Akechi character saying pancakes have anything to do with the story." Morgana even interjected to tell a few parts of the story.

"Well, that's _almost_ the entire story," Ren stated.

"Almost? You defeated one god. Shouldn't your adventure be over now?" Yu asked.

_"One_ god? Does that seriously mean that there are multiple?" Ren looked very confused at the fact that there are multiple gods.

"Yes, but first, finish your story."

"Alright, then. So then..." Ren then finally started talking about Maruki and how he created a false reality to make people happy. He then accounted for how he got arrested after taking down Maruki's palace and how his friends helped him convince the government to let him out. He then explained how he got back home from his long adventure and how that was supposedly the end.

"That was really, unnecessarily long story that you just explained to me," Yu said, rubbing his neck.

"Yep, it certainly was," Ren said, "But do you want to know something funny?"

"What?"

"It's still not over."

"..." Ren then proceeded to explain the events of how he met Sophia and the new metaverse that they could enter using EMMA. Then about how he recruited Zenkichi to the thieves, and finally how he defeated another god. Yu looked at Ren with a stare of amazement. The story that Ren told was very intriguing to Yu.

"...And then we lived happily ever after, I think," Ren finished, "We've been meeting every year since then. Weirdly, they all happen to be busy on the exact day."

"Yeah, I agree. It was similar to my friends all canceling for some reason. I find that quite strange personally."

"Speaking of your friends, why don't you tell me our story next?"

Alright, so..." Yu explained everything from when he first arrived in Inaba, to the initial murder, to explaining his first experience in the TV world, to him and Yosuke's first persona awakenings, and the formation of the Investigation team. He also explained how the TV world worked compared to Ren's metaverse, which was as strange for each other as when Ren explained how his metaverse worked.

“So, what do you think so far?” Yu asked.

"Seems interesting so far. I wonder what'll happen next?"

"May I start again?"

"You may indeed proceed with your story."

"Alright," Yu said, " So..." Yu then proceeded to explain everything Yosuke's persona awakening, all the way to the defeating against Adachi and Ameno-sagiri. Ren occasionally commented on a few parts of Yu's story, with questions from Ren such as "When did you meet Rise" or "Why is this Adachi person so suspicious," As Yu finished, Ren almost moved his hands to form start a light clap.

"Well, that certainly was interesting," Ren commented.

"Ok, but do you want to know what the crazy part is?"

"Certainly."

"We're only halfway, Ren," Ren held his hand up in disagreement and started to argue about the fact that the story couldn't be _that_ long, but he stopped himself from proving his point. The only thing he could muster was a short sigh.

"Anyways, essentially..." Yu then explained his final battle against Izanami and the conclusion of the murder cases. Afterward, however, he then explains how he got tossed into a fighting ring where he had to fight his best friends, and then he met Labrys and fought her shadow. Then, he proceeds to explain how he met a few S.E.E.S members, and finally, how he had to defeat Labrys when a mysterious force started controlling her. As Yu finished, Ren looked interested and confused at the same time.

"That was," Ren said with a grimace on his face, "Interesting, to say."

"I wonder what'll happen next?" Morgana thought out loud as he stared at Ren.

"It certainly was, I guess," Yu said as all 3 of them quietly stared at each other until Ren broke the silence.

"There's more, isn't there?" 

"Anyways," Yu started without answering his question, "So..." Yu told Ren about how the world turned into the dark hour, which Yu believed was related to Makoto somehow, how he, the investigation team, and the S.E.E.S had to fight shadow version of themselves, how they had to fight Sho and Minazuki, and finally how he defeated general Teddie who was disguised as Hi-no-Kagutsuchi. As Yu finally finished his story, Ren slowly clapped his hand and looked at Yu with a look of astonishment.

"So, what do you think about the story?" Yu asked.

"I still can't believe you went through all of that," Ren answered, "Also, you forgot to say what you think of my story."

"You never asked," Yu let a small chuckle, "Your story was certainly interesting, and I can't believe you went through so much yourself," Ren and Yu's banter would've continued had Morgana not interjected.

"When will we get there? I've listened to the 2 of you talk for long enough now," Yu went to the navigation and noticed that their conversation took a little under 4 hours. 

"We have 2 hours and 8 minutes until we reach Iwatodai."

"So, we've been talking for a while now, huh?" Yu spots a Big Bang Burger restaurant

"Yep," Yu answered, "Do you reckon we should go and get lunch now since it is about lunchtime."

"Alright, then. I am hungry right now," Yu pulls over into Big Bang Burger and parks the car, as Ren and Yu both walk out of the car door.

"Hey, bring some for me!" Morgana says from the car.

"Alright, alright," Yu watches as Ren calms Morgana and as Ren and Yu walk into the Big Bang Burger restaurant.

"Should we get takeout or..."

"I think we should order takeout. We could eat in the car," Yu answered, "Plus, Morgana wanted some food, and they don't allow cats in the restaurant."

"Alright, I understand."

Ren and Yu walk out of the restaurant with 3 bags of food as they walk out the door to find Yu's black SUV. 

"Well, that's a lot of food," Yu said as he and Ren start walking to the SUV.

"Sure is. I don't really think that I could finish all that I ordered," Ren says as they, "Hey, I'll drive the rest of the way to Iwatodai," Ren seemed determined to drive, so Yu had to let him.

"Sure, go ahead," Yu opened the car door to the backseat as he saw Ren open the door to the driver's seat.

"Did you get me anything?" Morgana asks Yu as he hands him a bag of chips, "Chips!" Morgana stuffs his head into the bag.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ren asked, "Let's dig in."

"Alright then," Yu said as he, Ren, and Morgana started chowing down on their food. As they finished, Yu looked at the mess of the car they made by eating, as Ren looked at both Morgana and Yu with a funny look.

"Well, I'm certainly not cleaning up this mess," Ren joked to Yu as he looked back to the steering wheel, "Are we ready to continue the journey, Yu?" Yu silently nods as Ren puts his hand on the steering wheel and puts his foot on the gas pedal. Yu then looks at Morgana and reaches into his bag, grabbing an unknown object out of it.

"I brought these," Yu took the mysterious object and showed it to Morgana, which Morgana realized was a deck of UNO cards, "You want to play a game, Mona?"

"Alright, sure."

* * *

Yu and Morgana played 20 games of UNO, with Yu beating Morgana in every single round. They were just about to finish their 21st game, too, as Yu put down his final card.

"Oh, come on! How can I never win?" Morgana yelled.

"Have you ever tried getting good?" Yu muttered.

"What?"

"What?"

"Well, anyway," Morgana started, "Ren, how long do we have left to get to Iwatodai?" Ren let out a small chuckle.

"Haven't either of you looked outside?" Ren asked as Yu and Morgana peered out of the window, noticing they were on a bridge. At the end of that bridge, they saw a big sign with the words "Welcome to Iwatodai!" plastered right on it.

"We're already here?"

"Yep."

"Time does fly fast after all, huh?" Yu thought out loud as he, Ren, and Morgana entered the city of Iwatodai. They park their car at a nearby motel and exit the car.

"Hey, can I see the number of items that you have for the mission?" Ren asked Yu, "I mean, you were in charge of the persona related items."

"Sure," Yu stated as he grabbed his bag, "I got some SP items, a ton of essentials, a few extra weapons, some pieces of armor, accessories, and hea-" Yu quickly realized all that the healing material compartment was open, and all the healing items were gone.

"Well, shit," Ren looked at Yu with a disappointed look, "The healing items spilled out of the bag." Ren sighed.

"Well, that's great," Ren joked, "I really don't think that we could go back to Iwatodai due to the strict time limit Igor, Margaret, and Lavenza told us about. However, I don't really think we could survive there for one second without instantly dying."

"Maybe there'll be somewhere we could get some healing items, but it's improbable," Morgana stated.

"Maybe, though we have to spend the night here somehow," Yu said, eyeing Ren and Morgana.

"But what if they don't have any healing items?"

"I-" Yu stuttered, "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. We have to hope that we do get healing items from here." Ren nods at him as he looks at his watch to look at the time.

"By the way, the time's only 3 P.M, so we have a ton of time."

"Alright then, we'll check out the motel first," Ren and Yu walk over to the motel as Yu thinks about something.

_"What if there aren't any stores here, we'll be screwed, and the world would be over, just because I left the bag open."_

Thankfully, the three of them wouldn't have to worry because a certain someone would be there to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh, how will they be able to get healing items now?
> 
> Hey y'all, Greenhi here. I have a ton of things to say, so I'll just list them all.
> 
> 1\. Thank you for 2,000 hits! That's a lot of hits, and I really am happy that so many people enjoy this fic. I hope y'all continue to read this story.
> 
> 2\. While I'm not searching now, I think that I'm eventually gonna try and get a co-writer at some point. If anyone wants to volunteer right now though, I might see what people have to offer.
> 
> 3\. I've decided to shout 2 really great stories that I read and loved.
> 
> Phantom Messiah: Royal Edition, by LazuriteLuxCaelumhttps://archiveofourown.org/works/26443267/chapters/64426876  
> I really love the idea of Makoto being revived and helping out Ren/Akira on his journey. I think it's a great concept and I can't wait until it's further developed. I think the ways that Lazurite phrases words are great and I wonder what'll happen next in the fiction. Go check it out if you have the time!
> 
> Lupin's Third String, by barelyactive17: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26684713/chapters/65087050  
> This is by far the COOLEST A.U idea that I've read. It's so well written and I cannot wait to see how the story progresses. Go check the fiction out if you have the time. I think this is amazing fan-fiction and I hope y'all read it.
> 
> 4\. Sorry this is so late, but at this point, I'm going to have 1 chapter per month. I hope to speed up the process when I get a co-writer.
> 
> Well, this is all the time I got. Thank you so much for reading this and I hope you'll leave a comment. I hope you have an amazing day and goodbye!


	6. A Crazy First Day In Iwatodai

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ren and Yu spend their first day in Iwatodai, meeting a familiar face along the way. Then, Ren and Yu learn more about their mission from Igor, Lavenza, and Margaret, along with a new mysterious guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm back! Thank you all for waiting for this chapter to come out, and please note any grammatical mistakes. A few things I want to talk about, so let's go!
> 
> 1\. I'm STILL looking for any possible co-writers. If anyone would like to help writing this story, whether it would be writing whole chapters or just proofreading, any help possible is great.
> 
> 2\. Thank all of you for 3000 hits! Wow, that's a lot of hits for me. My final goal for the popularity of this fic is page 100 or lower when you sort Persona series fics by hits. It's ambitious, but I know that this story will have at the very least 25 chapters, so I think it is very possible. We are in the top 190, and the most we must get is about 5000. Thank you all once again for this.
> 
> 3\. I'm going to shout out the stories from the last chapter, along with shouting out a new 1 or 2 stories every new chapter of this story.
> 
> Phantom Messiah: Royal Edition, by LazuriteLuxCaelumhttps://archiveofourown.org/works/26443267/chapters/64426876  
> I really love the idea of Makoto being revived and helping Ren/Akira on his journey. I think it's a great concept and I can't wait until it's further developed. I think the ways that Lazurite phrases words are great and I wonder what'll happen next in the fiction. Go check it out if you have the time!
> 
> Lupin's Third String, by barelyactive17: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26684713/chapters/65087050  
> This is by far the COOLEST A.U idea that I've read. It's so well written and I cannot wait to see how the story progresses. Go check the fiction out if you have the time. I think this is amazing fanfiction and I hope y'all read it.
> 
> Reunion: Ten Years Later, by Sketchi_Akechi: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27413059/chapters/67004  
> It's a great sequel to P5R and quite entertaining to read. Though the first few chapters are a bit short, the story gets a lot more interesting as it goes. Give it a read if you have the time!
> 
> Persona 207X, also by Sketchi_Akechi: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27584887/chapters/67479667  
> This a sequel story to the one I just mentioned, and I honestly just shouted out the previous story just so I could shout out this one because man is this one good! I've never seen a Persona story that takes place over 50 years after the events of P5R. Definitely check it out if you've read the first story and have the time.
> 
> 4\. Recently, Theroonco, UnknownVoid25, and I are proof-reading Intenzity9's new one-shot stories. The romance one has come on 21st already, but a smut story will come on Wednesday. Remember to check out if you have the time! Spoilers, uh, it takes things a bit too far...
> 
> 5\. Good news, the next chapter should be out by the first week of December. It's a pretty short one, but it is the start of something new in the story.
> 
> Well, that's all I gotta say, remember to leave a comment and possibly a kudos if you enjoyed this story!

(Ren's POV)

After checking into the hotel, Ren, Yu, and Morgana began trying to search for a place to purchase healing items, but to no avail. They searched everywhere, yet nowhere could they find some healing items. They had that point given up, so, after they dropped Morgana back in the motel because bringing him around all day, they decided to walk to the grocery store and buy some food at a nearby grocery store to have some ingredients to cook with.

"So, we couldn't find a place to buy healing items at all, right?" Yu asked.

"Nope, not any at all. Unsurprising, but still somewhat disappointing," Both Ren and Yu open the door to the grocery store and walk right in, grabbing a shopping cart on the way in. They walk right to the vegetable section to grab some Carrots. Ren also thinks he noticed a familiar woman with blue hair, but he thought nothing of it for the time being. Both he and Yu then walked into the Rice section, but Ren accidentally bumps into the blue-haired woman from before.

"Umhp!" Both the woman and Ren fall to the floor and rub their head with their hands.

"Excuse me for the inconvenience," She says, looking at Ren as he also starts to raise his head to look at her. 

"I'm very sorry, I didn't see you," Ren stands up and looks at the woman, and he quickly realizes who it is, "Tae?"

"Ren?" Tae starts to pick herself up and looks at Ren, as Yu stood confused at the sight of both.

"Ren, do you know her?" Yu asked.

"Yeah, she was my doctor and a friend during my time in high school," Ren watched as Tae held out her hand to Yu.

"Tae Takemi," Yu accepts the handshake.

"Yu Narukami," They shake hands for a few seconds until Ren asks a question.

"Tae, why are you even here? Not that I'm not thankful, I'm just curious."

"I was helping a friend who lives here. I'm trying to help her out with making a new type of antidote," Tae answered, "What about you? It's surprising to see you here in a small town like Iwatodai."

"Oh, I'm here for some Phantom Thief stuff," Ren looked at Tae while she was in deep thought.

"Wait, I thought you ended the Phantom Thieves years ago?"

"I did, yet we're here for another mission," Ren answered.

"Well, it's great that I caught you here. I created some pills, and I'd like you to try them out," Suddenly, Ren had an idea.

"Alright, I'll accept your request. But I also need help with something."

"What would that be?"

"I need to buy some medicine off of you," Yu looks surprised and looks like he realizes what Ren is doing, as Tae nods.

_"Well, I guess I've solved the problem of healing items,"_ Ren thought to himself.

"Sure, you should probably get something in return for helping me," Ren nods at Tae.

"So, Yu and I will get the food we need from this store really quickly, and we will meet up at the food court in a few minutes."

"Sounds good."

* * *

After Ren and Yu finish collecting their groceries, they walk to meet Tae at the food court. 

"Hey," Ren looks at Yu as Yu points to Tae.

"Well, there she is," the both of them start walking towards Tae's direction.

"Hey, there you two are," Tae realizes, "I've been waiting for 30 minutes," Ren and Yu rub their necks in embarrassment.

"Sorry, we got carried away buying curry ingredients," Ren apologized to Tae as she giggled.

"Well, are you ready to leave?" Ren nods at Tae's request.

"Hey, I'll go back to the hotel and make some food. You get the healing items," Yu whispers to Ren as Ren nods. Yu then proceeds to walk back to the hotel as Tae brings him back to her friend's nearby office.

* * *

"How are you feeling after the tests?" Tae looks at Ren as he washes his face.

"I really shouldn't have swallowed all those pills at once," Tae snickers as Ren looks at the time, "So, how have you been, Tae?"

"I've been doing fine, still working on new pills to give to my patients," Tae answers, "How about you? I've tried to get in contact with you, but I can't seem to be able to."

"I've still been trying to study therapy and working at Leblanc."

"You're still working at Leblanc? Interesting..."

"I mean, I owe my life to the boss, so I'm still working with him in Leblanc to this day."

"How long do you think you'll be working there for?" Tae asks as Ren shrugs.

"I guess when I feel like the time is right. The only idea I have is to leave when I'm finished studying therapy, to get a job somewhere in that Tokyo, and have someone else work at Leblanc."

"Well, good luck on your therapy," Tae says as Ren starts grabbing his stuff.

"Same with your medical studies," Ren walks out of the door and walks back to the hotel, takes the elevator, and walks to his and Yu's room. 

"Welcome back," Yu greeted, "Did you get the medicine?" Ren put the bag of healing items on the kitchen top.

"I sure did."

"Great to hear," Yu grabs the bag of healing items and puts it on a couch, "I finished cooking curry for the 3 of us."

"Well, let's dig in then," Ren and Yu start chowing down on the curry and finish it all in a few minutes while talking about their lives. After finishing their food, Ren sleeps on the bed with Morgana while Yu decides to sleep on the couch.

* * *

"Welcome, wild cards..."

Ren wakes up in the blue room with Yu, that wretched room that changed his life, whether for better or worse. The ominous song plays in the background, as Ren looks at the man with the long nose that stood before them with his 2 assistants.

"Welcome to the velvet room..." Igor looks upon the 2 of them with an unbreakable gaze. Yu then proceeds to break the silence. 

"Well, could you please inform us more about the save Makoto mission?"

"Lavenza, Margaret, you may speak."

"Yes, master," Lavenza starts speaking, "When the clock strikes midnight, a tower that is known as Tartarus shall appear. At the very top of the top, Makoto and the sealed beast Nyx will appear. Using powers given to you soon," It seemed as if Yu knew what Tartarus was, but Ren didn't think much of it.

"When you awaken to this power later, you'll be at the top of Tartarus. You need to unseal Makoto and take 2 minutes to prepare for a battle against Nyx, where the 3 of you must seal him at once. After that, climb down Tartarus, and you'll be done."

"That doesn't sound that har-" Ren's comment was interrupted by Margaret.

"The hard part isn't necessarily the fighting Nyx. It's traversing Tartarus itself," Lavenza pointed out, "Tartarus is a huge maze with difficult puzzles and is now harder to traverse than ever." 

"It used to be different, yet somehow, years have changed the tower into something quite different."

"Well, that sounds harder than what I thought," Ren and Yu were almost frightened at the fact that they would have the go up Tartarus alone, only with Morgana and each other.

"There is something else I would like to give the 2 of you..." A mysterious voice calls out to the 2 wildcards.

"Sister! Where have you been all of this time?" Lavenza asks the voice in the shadows.

"I've been busy, searching for a way to save Makoto," The voice explains, "In my travels, I found this..." The woman throws what seems to be a gun on Igor's table.

"Is that an evoker?" Yu seemed to recognize this gun as an evoker, "Using the evoker, you can point this at your head and summon your Persona."

"Another way to summon your Persona?" Yu nods, "Interesting, 3 ways so far to summon a Persona..." Ren started thinking about how many different ways there could be to summon a Persona. But, before he can continue, the woman who put the gun on the table stepped out of the shadows.

"Hello, my name is Elizabeth," The person, now known as Elizabeth, says to Ren.

"Tricksters, this is another one of my sisters who is a velvet room attendant."

"...And, Yu, I believe you remember Elizbeth from that time you stopped that Sho figure from destroying the world?" Ren was shocked at the fact that Yu seemed to know Elizabeth,

"I do indeed. However, I don't think I've ever seen her in the velvet room."

"That's because she _was_ a velvet room attendant," Margaret explains, "She isn't anymore." Instead of Ren only being shocked, Yu was also confused at this fact.

"I'm standing right here, sister, y'know!" 

"Well, why isn't she an attendant?" Yu asked as everyone suddenly went silent until Lavenza spoke up.

"Well, she was the attendant for Makoto, but once Makoto sealed Nyx, she left the velvet room to find a way to save Makoto."

"My sister sure did explain it well," Elizabeth remarks.

"Well, do we need to know anything else about the mission?" Ren asks.

"Two more things, wild cards," Lavenza says as Elizabeth starts to talk.

"You might be wondering how you even seal and unseal Nyx, and we have the answers to that," Elizabeth starts explaining, but suddenly stops, "But we have to tell you later," Both Ren and Yu sighed in disappointment as Elizabeth smiles.

"Also, before you leave, I would like to tell you that Tartarus will appear every day at midnight, however, you may only enter at midnight exact," Margaret explains.

"That is strange. Last I remember, it worked a bit different..." Elizabeth says, confused.

"It seems as if Tartarus has changed after the 'dark hour' ended after all these years, sister," Lavenza answers, "And, now it seems as if we've finished explaining what we need to explain."

"Well, it seems your time has come to re-awaken to the world," Igor realizes.

"We look forward to seeing you again at a later date," Margaret smiles as Lavenza and Elizabeth nod as the 2 wildcards prepare to leave the velvet room. But, while they wait for the velvet room to disintegrate before them, they hear the 2 other sisters and Igor arguing with Elizabeth.

"We need to talk about your disappearance, sister," Margaret sighs.

"It was for a good reason!"

"That doesn't excuse the fact that you left without warning," Lavenza points out.

"I can do what I may! I have what humans call free will!"

They continue to argue, but for Ren and Yu, Igor, the attendants, and the velvet room itself slowly starts to disappear and eventually fully fades away as the real world starts to take form.

* * *

Ren wakes up in a cold sweat and walks to one of the bathrooms to brush his teeth and to take a shower. He walks out of the door to find Yu cooking breakfast for the 2 of them.

"Good morning," Yu greets Ren starts brewing Coffee for the 2 of them, "You know how to brew coffee, huh?"

"I mean, I do work at a cafe," After a few minutes of waiting, Ren pours him and Yu a cup of coffee. They sit there quietly with Morgana sleeping until Yu finally speaks up with a question.

"So, how do you think the girls are faring back home in Tokyo?"

"I think they're probably fine, though maybe we should call them now that we're in Iwatodai," Now that Yu had mentioned, Ren was wondering about how the girls were faring back in Tokyo.

That was until he heard his phone suddenly start ringing.


	7. A Surprising Amount Of Back-Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sumire and Rise are afraid of the fact that Ren and Yu might be in trouble, so they get some back-up from a few allies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally finished the chapter, so thank you all for waiting! I apologize that if this chapter has a few grammar mistakes. We tried to make sure that there wasn't any, but there might've been some. This the final chapter of set-up for the story, so the next chapter is when the meat of potatoes of the story starts, which is a fun way of saying this is the last chapter that I've actually planned for...  
> Also, uh, remember when I was literally said that this chapter would be a short one AND THEN IT LITERALLY ENDED UP MY LONGEST CHAPTER? Anyway, onto the list of stuff.
> 
> 1\. I'm still looking for any co-writers to help me. If you wanna help out, I feel like this is the last chapter to decide to help.
> 
> 2\. I don't really feel like shouting out a specific fic today, just read all the stories from the previous chapters.
> 
> 3\. However, I do wanna give thanks to UnknownVoid25 and Intenzity9 for proofreading this story for me. Both are great people and while Unknown doesn't have any fics, Intenzity has been working on a ton of one-shots and the sequel to Worlds Under War (If you haven't read Worlds Under War, go do it. It's objectively one of the best stories I've read) called The War That Ends The World. Go check out his stuff right now if you haven't!!
> 
> I have some more notes at the bottom, so read those if you can.

(Phantom Thieves and Investigation team's POV)

Sumire has been incredibly bored ever since Ren left the house since she was quite literally alone in the house. There's no Morgana to keep her company, nor a Ren to talk to her when she's there. She's just alone, laying down in the house, thinking about what to do today, tomorrow, or even the entire rest of the month. She seems quite confused at Ren and Morgana's sudden urge to want to go to Iwatodai and felt that there might be something else that neither of them would tell her. It was suspicious when he decided to bring Morgana, yet Yu was coming with him as well? That seems just a bit too funny. But she couldn't state her evidence anywhere, and these were nothing but mere suspicions in her head. Nonetheless, Sumire probably would have continued lying down for the rest of the day until she heard the doorbell ring. She stood up from the couch that she was lying down on and walked to the front door, opening it to see 6 familiar figures.

"Surprise!" All of them yelled at once.

"All of you came?" Sumire was very confused at the sudden appearance of the entirety of the Phantom Thieves, "I thought you all were busy with your work!"

"We decided to surprise you, Ren, and Morgana!" Ann yelled excitedly.

"Speaking of Ren-Ren, where is he?" Ryuji asked. Sumire's expression changed from one of delight to one of sadness.

"Ren-Senpai left on a job trip," Sumire said as she stared into the eyes of her shocked friends, "He said he'd only return in a month."

"For real?!" Ryuji yelled as Sumire sighed.

"This truly is a disappointing scenario to occur," Yusuke states.

"Well, where did Ren go for his job trip?" Makoto asks Sumire.

"I think it was a place called Iwatodai," Sumire said while in a thinking state.

"Though Ren-Kun might not be with us, we shouldn't let that stop us from having fun! I'm sure that he wouldn't mind us coming to Iwatodai to meet him," Haru sounded excited.

"Yeah, What Haru said!" Futaba sounded ecstatic, and that made Sumire feel comfortable to tell the group her suspicions about what Ren and Morgana are doing exactly.

"I have something to tell all of you..." Sumire said while fidgeting her fingers.

"Yes?" All of them ask at the same time.

"I have some suspicions about what Ren-senpai is doing, but I’m not exactly sure if they're true or not. It might be a bit unordinary and strange and an assumption, but hear me out, please."

"Lay it on us!" Futaba yelled.

"I think that Ren and Morgana might be doing something related to the metaverse," Ryuji gasped as everyone else stayed quiet, listening to what Sumire was going to say next, "Though, they're mostly theories. and I wouldn't say that it's worth talking about."

"I think we should still know about those theories if they're bothering you, Sumire-chan," Haru sweetly announces.

"You may relay the situation to us," Sumire nods at Yusuke.

"Alright," Sumire starts explaining the situation, "So, Senpai told me the day before yesterday that he was leaving to a place called Iwatodai, and he brought his friend named Yu Narukami to Iwat-"

"Yu Narukami! As in Rise Narukami's husband?" Ryuji interrupts.

"Does Ryuji have a crush on Rise?" Futaba teases.

"H-hell no! I just like her music!" Ryuji defends as Futaba laughs.

"Well, anyway, me, Ren-Senpai, Yu-Senpai, and Rise-Senpai had dinner at their house, and after we had said our goodbyes, Ren realized he forgot Morgana at Yu's house," Sumire continued, "But, he then took a long time to come back home."

"I wonder why Ren-Kun would take so long to get Morgana?"

"My theory is that he may have been entering the metaverse with Yu-Senpai."

"Do ya think that Yu guy has a persona?" Ryuji asks.

"I honestly think he may, though it once again might just be me overthinking everything."

"That seems interesting, Sumire," Makoto commented, "Well, what happened next?"

"The next day, Senpai told me he and Yu were going on a business trip and that they were taking Morgana with them," Sumire continued shortly, "He said his goodbyes the day before yesterday and left with Morgana."

"That's it?"

"That's it," The thieves look at Sumire with interest.

"Well, I guess we only have 2 leads to finding out this mystery," Makoto figures out.

"What would those 2 be?" Ann asks nicely, as Yusuke catches on similarly.

"It seems as if we could go to the city of Iwatodai, or we could meet this supposed Rise person that it seems you know."

"I think we should go to Rise's home first because it might take a while to search for Ren in Iwatodai," Haru pointed out.

"I have to agree with Haru. There is no way that we can find Ren in a city as big as Iwatodai. I've been there myself for a fashion show once."

"For real! You've been to Iwatodai!" Ann nods at Ryuji.

"Well, now that we've gotten everything settled with where we're going, how do we go?" Sumire asks as all 7 of them walk outside, and Sumire sees a huge RV vehicle parked in front of the house.

"Woah!" Sumire had never ridden in an RV, but it was always her dream as a kid.

"Yeah, this is that RV we went in on that vacation years ago," Ryuji tells Sumire.

"That vacation you forgot me on?"

"H-hey! We didn't mean to! You were busy with gymnastics," Ann defended as Sumire giggled.

"Aren't you the one that is usually being teased?" Yusuke asks.

"Living with Senpai has helped me tease others in retaliation," Sumire giggled.

"Alrighty, let's go already!" Futaba yells.

"YEAH!!" Ryuji yells as they all start to get in the RV. Sumire gets in the front seat next to the driver's seat, while Makoto decides to drive there with Sumire's directions. Everyone else gets in the RV's back or seats while Makoto presses down on the pedal as the car starts moving and the 7 of them go off to the Narukamis' house.

* * *

Rise was in a similar situation as Sumire. She was alone in her house, waiting for Yu to come back home for what seemed like weeks, but it was 2 days in reality. She most likely was going to sit there in her bed for a long while until her husband returned from whatever he was doing with Ren. She suddenly heard a ring at her doorbell, similar to how Sumire also heard a doorbell when she was waiting for Ren to come back. Rise walks to the door to go ahead and open it, and she sees a few familiar faces.

"SURPRISE!"

Suddenly, Chie, Yukkio, and Yosuke jump out from the bush next to the door, along with Kanji reluctantly walking out of the bush that the 4 of them were hiding in for them to surprise Rise.

"Yu-senpai told me you weren't coming here!" Yukkio giggles in excitement as the rest of them smile, "Also, where's Naoto?" The smiles disappear from their faces.

"We could ask the same thing about Yu..."

"We can discuss this further inside the house. Come in!" All of them walk into the living room as Rise brings chips for them to all eat while they discuss. Kanji then proceeds to speak first.

"Yeah, Naoto is working on a case in some city that we were never told about." 

"Well, Senpai went on a job trip to a city called Iwatodai."

"So, that's where he is."

"Well, I guess we're alone to spend the summer together," Just then, they hear the doorbell ring once again as Yosuke and Rise stand up at the same time to open the door.

"Hello, Rise-Senpai!" Sumire pops up at the door with 6 other people, who all seem to be her friends.

"Hey there, Sumire!" Rise greets as Chie, Yukkio, and Kanji also arrive at the door.

"Ah, so it seems as if you are Rise. Nice to meet you. My name is Yusuke. I make art and for others to buy," The blue-haired man, now identified as Yusuke, says to Rise.

"Oh, well, why don't the rest of you introduce yourselves?"

"Yo, I'm Ryuji, and I participate in events as a track runner," The yellow-haired guy, now identified as Ryuji, quietly explained.

"My name is Ann, and I'm a model for the Japan times paper!" The female with blondish hair, now identified as Ann, exclaimed.

"Hello, I'm Makoto, and I work in the police department as the police chief," The woman with brown hair, now identified as Makoto, said while smiling.

"Hey! I'm Futaba! I program video games," The girl with the long Orange hair, now identified as Futaba, told Rise.

"My name is Haru, and I am the current president of the company Okumura foods," The floofy-haired girl with the hat, now identified as Haru, calmly said to Rise.

"And to the rest of you, my name is Sumire, and I do gymnastics. I also love cooking," Sumire says to the rest of the Investigation Team, "Now, why don't you tell me your names?"

"My name is Yosuke, and I own a grocery store," Yosuke says while looking down.

"I'm Chie, and I'm a kung-fu teacher!" Chie accidentally kicks Ryuji.

"Oww!" Ryuji yelps in surprise.

"Sorry! I get too hyped sometimes," Chie apologizes as Yukkio seems to continue laughing, though Yukkio then starts to introduce herself.

"Anyway, my name is Yukkio, and I'm the head of the Amagi inn," Yukkio answers as she stops laughing.

"My name is Kanji, and I am, uh..." Kanji seems to be looking for an explanation for what he does, "I own a textile shop, I guess."

"And my name is Rise, and I'm a pop-star!" Rise tells the group happily, "You can come in now if you want," Everyone else enters the living room, "Well, now that we've introduced ourselves, I need to ask, why are all of you here?"

"We are wondering about our friend, Ren, and why he left for a city called Iwatodai," Haru kindly explains.

"Oh! Yu also went to Iwatodai with Ren!" Rise answers.

"Yeah, he told me he was going with Ren to Iwatodai for a job trip," Sumire eludes to.

"Huh, Yu told me the same thing. Maybe they did go to Iwatodai for a job trip..." 

"They're probably doing Persona related stuff and havin' fun. Stupid Ren, he didn't even bring us..." Ryuji thought he muttered that sentence. He did. But in reality, unannounced to him, he practically screamed that sentence, "Uh, why is everyone lookin' at me funny?"

"Uh, did you say Persona?" Chie looks straight at Ryuji, with disbelief, along with everyone else in the room.

"Wait, may I ask if you all know about Personas?" Yusuke asks.

"Of course we do!" Kanji yells.

"That explains quite a lot about why the 2 of them went to Iwatodai," Makoto realizes.

"Wait, does your Yu friend also know about Personas as well?" Ann asks.

"Does he know about them? He's our leader!" Yosuke yells.

"Same with Ren-Kun!" Haru explains.

"Is he a wildcard too?" Yukkio asks.

"YES! What are these similarities?!?!" Futaba shouts with a confused face.

"Maybe it has something to do with that Velvet Room place you all told me about?" Sumire wonders.

"Does Ren also use the Velvet Room too? Yu does as well!" Rise answers and asks at the same time.

"That doesn't explain why he brought Morgana along!" Ryuji says, confused.

"Who is Morgana?" Chie asks Ryuji, but Makoto ends up answering.

"He's our cat, and he also has Persona related abilities." 

"We're in a group called the Investigation team, though Yu isn't here. As is one of our other friends, who's busy with work," Yosuke explains.

"We're all called the Phantom Thieves of heart, and we steal the hearts of criminals. We used to be pretty famous until we disbanded for a while," Futaba replied.

"You're all the Phantom thieves!" Chie yells. Everyone else probably would've continued yelling if it weren’t for Sumire interrupting all of them with an idea.

"Look, we probably have a lot of questions that needed to be answered. So, maybe we should ask Ren himself?"

"Heck yeah! That sounds like a good idea!" Kanji responds as everyone either gives a thumbs up, smiles, or nods. Sumire proceeds to get her phone out and dial Ren's phone number.

_*Ring Ring*_

_"Hello? Who is this?”_

"Senpai, are you doing Persona stuff with Yu?"

_"H-huh? No, we're just on a job trip!"_ Ren defends, which is an obvious lie, _"Also, hello Sumire. Sorry I couldn't call you earlier, we didn't have WIFI in the Motel we're staying in for a few hours, and I just woke up.”_

"Just woke up? Isn't Iwatodai only a few hours different time zone wise?"

_"I'm sorry! Without you there to wake me up, I have trouble sleeping,"_ Ren answered, flustered for some odd reason, _"Uh, anyway, we're totally not doing any Persona stuff!"_

"Hey, could I speak to Yu?" Rise asks Sumire.

"Rise wants to speak to Yu, could she?" Sumire asks Ren.

_"You're with Rise?"_

"I'm actually with the rest of the thieves and a few of Rise's friends," Sumire couldn't see Ren, but he felt like he was stunned.

"Yo," Ryuji says near the phone.

_"Was that Ryuji?"_

"Yes!"

_"So, all of the thieves are there?"_

"We are," Makoto says from the back.

_"Well, I guess you all are,"_ Ren realizes, _"I'll give the phone to Yu now,"_ Sumire hands the phone to Rise as Ren hands his phone to Yu.

_"Hello, Rise. We're not doing Persona stuff, I swear,_ " Yu explains, _"Also, Ren told me that some of your friends are over. Is it the Investigation team?"_

"Yo, Narukami!" Yosuke calls out.

_"Hey, Yosuke."_

"Are you sure you're not doing Persona stuff?"

_"I'm sure."_

"Well, either way, we're going to Iwatodai today, so we'll meet you there!'

_"No, no wait, don't come to Iwat-"_ Yu was about to say something, But Rise hung up before he could finish.

"Well, should we go to Iwatodai?" Ryuji asks.

"I think that it would be a good idea to go there," Chie answers.

"Alrighty then! let's go!" Futaba exclaims to the group while sounding like an esports commentator.

"We might need to split up into different cars, though since we brought an RV that only has 8 seats at the very max," Makoto points out.

"We just got a car that can hold 4 people," Yukkio points out.

"Well, it seems as if Rise and Sumire still need to pack, as we already packed on our way to Tokyo," Kanji tells the 2 of them, "I assume you Phantom Thieves have packed already?" All of them nod at this question.

"Well, I'll go home and pack, and then we'll leave," Sumire tells the Investigation team.

"Wait, I already packed my stuff," Rise explains, "I was planning to visit Yu in Iwatodai by myself."

"Well, then we'll just go to Sumire's house and help her pack," Yosuke tells them.

"Alright then! We'll go to Sumire's place, and then we'll head start the Iwatodai?" Ann asks as Rise nods. They all then start to go to the RV and car, but Rise stays behind for some reason.

"Aren't you coming, Rise-senpai?"

"Hmm? Yeah, wait for a second. I'll be right there," Everyone shrugs at Rise's decision to stay back for a minute as they walk out the door. But before Rise left for Sumire's house, and then eventually Iwatodai, she decided to leave a voicemail to a specific someone.

"Hi, Mitsuru Kirijo? This is Rise from the Investigation team. Remember how we helped you with that Sho incident that one time? Yeah, we might need your help with something Persona related. Please meet us in the city of Iwatodai soon. Thanks!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The SEES is now getting involved too. Things are getting interesting (I hope so for you all, at least). I might take a while, and by a while, I mean a WHILE, for the next one to come out. I wanna start pre-pre-paring chapters so that I can just rest easier. Anyway, thank you for reading!!


	8. The Tower Known as Tartarus: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After learning more about Tartarus and roaming around town, Ren, Yu, and Morgana visit Tartarus for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally finished this chapter! I have a few things to say no, but also at the end of this chapter, so remember to read the chapter's end.
> 
> 1\. Thank you all for 4,000 hits! 1,000 more, and I'll accomplish my dream of having 5,000 hits. Once again, thank you all for the support.
> 
> 2\. Bit of a weird thing, but PLEASE comment more often. I would like to see more things that I can improve on as a new writer.
> 
> 3\. I have decided not to re-shout out the stuff and just shout out one or two new chapters so here it goes:  
> The Alpha and The Omega, by intenzity9: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28509738/chapters/69859203  
> I have no idea what's going to happen in the story next, but the beginning has me hooked. I would highly recommend this story if you like ShuSumi fics. Please read it if you have the time! 
> 
> 4\. Thank you to Intenzity9 and UnknownVoid25 for proofreading this chapter once again. If you catch any grammar mistakes, please notify me.
> 
> Alright, on to the chapter!

(Yu's POV)

"No, no wait, don't come to Iwat-" Yu was about to tell them not to go to Iwatodai, But Rise hung up before he could finish. After Yu finishes his Coffee, he stands up and opens up the dishwasher, placing his mug inside. Ren also finishes his Coffee and pushes the mug to Yu to put it in the dishwasher.

"Uh, bad news..." Ren realizes.

"What happened?" Yu asked.

"So, I think that after they hung up."

"Uh-huh?"

"They decided to go to Iwatodai."

"Alright."

"And now, I think that they might be coming to Iwatodai."

"Yeah?"

"And they might find us in Iwatodai."

"Okay?"

"And might help us," Yu sighed at Ren's obvious revelations.

"Ren, this isn't the time to joke."

"Fine..." Ren looks up after finishing his cup of coffee, "Though, I'm still a bit conflicted on whether or not we should work together with them to seal Nyx."

"I do too, but here's the thing," Yu starts explaining, "I don't want any of them to get hurt. This mission is supposed to be for us specifically, and I don't want them to get involved here."

"Yeah, me neither. We should probably keep them out of this situation for now, at least," Ren explains,

"Alright, I'm not sure if I remember correctly, but I think that we can only go to Tartarus after midnight, right?" 

"I believe so."

"However, I do think that I may have some additional information," Ren looked quite surprised, "So, you may remember the 'S.E.E.S' group that I mentioned when I explained my Persona journey during the road trip."

"I do."

"Now, what I forgot to mention was that the S.E.E.S know about Tartarus..."

"YOU HAD TO TELL ME THAT NOW!" Ren scolded Yu in disbelief as Yu shakes his head.

"Sorry, I just forgot to mention it," Yu apologized, "Anyway, apparently they know a thing or 2 about Tartarus."

"So, I guess we could call one of them, right?" Ren asks.

"Yeah, that was what I was thinking," Yu tells Ren as Yu picks up his phone from the table where they were having coffee.

Ring ring

"Hello, who's calling?!" A familiar voice calls out from the phone, "I was just doing my push-up regimen!"

"Hello, Akihiko-san," Yu says to the phone, "It's me, Yu Narukami from the Investigation team. Remember how we helped you with that Sho incident that one time?"

"Oh, it's you, Yu," Akihiko realizes, "Why are you calling me?"

"Uh, could you please tell me information about Tartarus?" Akihiko sounded confused through the phone.

"Why would you want to know about Tartarus? It's gone anyway..." 

"We would-I mean,  **I** would like to know more about it in case it ever comes back," Yu responds, "So, can you?"

"Alright then," Akihiko answers as Yu puts the phone on speaker mode, "So, there's a total of 264 floors in Tartarus all together," Akihiko points out as Ren accidentally trips and almost falls while the call is going on.

"Sorry Akihiko, could you pause for a second," Yu asks as he looks at Ren, "Ren, could you be quieter, and maybe, I don't know, not fall by accident?"

"Sorry."

"Anyway, continue, please."

"At the beginning, there's a lobby on the first floor, and afterward, the other 262 floors are separated into blocks. The first block is the Thebel block, which contains floors 2 through 16. Then the Arqa block, which contains floors 17 through 64. The Yabbashah block contains floors 65 through 114 Tziah block, which contains floors 115 through 164 Harabah block, which contains floors 165 through 214, and finally, the Adamah block, which contains floors 215 through 263."

"Aren't you forgetting one of the floors? You said there were 264 floors, but you only listed 263," Yu points out to Akihiko.

"Oh, right, there's a roof. The roof is the final floor of the dang thing and is also where a monster lies," Akihiko explains, "It's also where he-"

"What was that? I couldn't catch that."

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," Akihiko then proceeds to explain everything else after that, from the dark hour, to how Tartarus works, and somehow more as Yu and Ren quietly listen to what Akihiko says.

"Now, do you have any questions, Yu?"

"No, but thank you for explaining this to me."

"No problem," Akihiko says, "I spent 15 minutes explaining this, and I guess now would be the time to leave and go finish my training regiment."

"Alright, goodbye," Akihiko hangs up as Ren finally opens up his mouth to speak.

"I think we've learned a lot from this Akihiko guy that you know," Yu nodded at Ren's statement.

"Well, I guess we wait until midnight to find and enter Tartarus."

"I guess we could explore this city more," Ren stated.

"That makes sense," Yu and Ren leave the motel building where they're staying and look around town for places to eat, among other buildings, for the whole day. As the day starts to end, they go back to the hotel to rest.

"Oww..."

Ren and Yu look over at the sound, and they see an older woman attempting to lifting 2 huge clay pots to put in a car.

"My back..."

"Uh, that person looks like she needs some help," Ren points out. However, Yu has already walked up to the woman and started helping her lifting 1 of the clay pots. Ren sighs and helps by carrying the other one.

"Thank you very much, you kind gentlemen!" The woman said, "This is why I have so much hope for this generation of adults!"

"No problem."

"Could I have your names, please? I would like to remember you for helping me," the woman pleaded.

"My name is Ren Amamiya."

"...And my name is Yu Narukami."

"Thank you, gentlemen," The woman thanked, "Ever since my husband died, I haven't had much help around here."

"Oh, my condolences to your husband," Ren apologized.

"My condolences too."

"It's fine, but thank you very much for your help."

"You're welcome," Yu responded as he and Ren walked back to the hotel room to go rest up for their trip to Tartarus while also ordering some food for dinner and bringing it back to the hotel to eat. Ren also buys some food for Morgana at a local store.

"Why wasn't I invited to roam around with you in Iwatodai?" Morgana asked after Ren and Yu informed Morgana of all the information they knew about Tartarus while the 3 of them wolf down on their food.

"You were asleep. We didn't want to wake you up, today being a big day and all of that," Ren assured as he finishes his food, "Speaking of which, what time is it again?"

"8 o'clock."

"We still have 4 more hours?

"Yeah, I guess we should rest up for 2 or 3 hours, maybe."

"I think that would make some sense," Ren answers, "I'll sleep on the bed today."

"Didn't you sleep on the bed yesterday? I get to sleep on the bed. You can sleep on the couch," Yu points out.

"I thought we had a plan where we alternate every 2 days?"

"We never agreed on that!"

"Ladies, ladies," Morgana assures, "Maybe **I** should sleep on the bed!"

"Certainly not," Ren stares straight at Morgana, "Fine, you can have the bed. Morgana, you sleep in the cat bed tonight."

"Thank you," Ren slept on the couch while Morgana slept in the cat bed, and Yu slept on the bed.

* * *

"Wake up, Ren, we have a Tartarus to visit," Yu wakes up Ren and walks to the couch, and tells him to wake up. The time is 11:15, and Tartarus opens up in an hour.

"Where is Tartarus exactly?" Ren asks as he gets up from the couch and picks up a confused Morgana.

"I have no idea, but I guess we have to hope that we find Tartarus while walking around the area."

"Fair enough, I guess," Ren answers while picking up Morgana and carrying him outside of the hotel with Yu.

"Did you get everything?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Morgana, can you act as the navigator?"

"I haven't been the navigator in a while, have I?" Morgana ponders, "Alright, sure. I guess I have to since there's no way in a thousand years that either of you could be a navigator." Morgana giggles as Ren and Yu look at him, "You both handle the offense and defense side of things. I'll just help with healing both of you."

"Alright, it seems as if we have a reasonable team of 2 wildcards and a healer or navigator."

"Alright, since we got that figured out, time to search for Tartarus," Ren puts down Morgana as the 3 of them walk around the city for 20 minutes.

"I wonder, where it could be? We only have 10 minutes, we gotta hurry up," Yu realizes.

"Uh, Yu?"

"Yeah?"

"Look over there..." Yu looks over at where Ren is pointing to, and he sees that the school in the morning was a huge, tall, creepy tower just standing there. Ren, Yu, and Morgana knew that the tower was certainly not alive, but the tower looking over them still made all 3 of the shiver vividly. All 3 of them quickly realized that something seemed to be off.

"Well, I would say that it's time that we go in, but as you see, there's a..." Ren starts explaining.

"...Closed gate leading to the school, with a lock keeping the door closed..." Yu finishes pointing out.

"...And we only have 9 minutes left," Ren realizes when Morgana seemed surprised.

"Wait, this is perfect!" Morgana shouts in excitement, "I learned how to pick simple locks a really, REALLY long time ago."

"Huh, convenient," Morgana figures out how to pick the lock and the gate is ready to be opened with 7 minutes left on the clock. Right in front of them stands a tower that houses their ultimate mission. A tower, that happens to be closed as well...

"I think the fact that this gate is closed makes since the attendants did say that Tartarus will only open at 12 pm, so we have to wait for 8 more minutes I guess..."

"Fair enough, I guess we have to wait for 8 minutes then," The three of them wait for 1 minute and talk about peanuts for the other 7 minutes. Suddenly, the time reached 12 pm exactly.

A strange feeling washes over the 3 of them as a gateway that has obstructed them from entering had finally been opened. There the 3 of them stood, waiting for the moment to enter the first floor, the base. of the frightening tower that currently loomed over them at the moment.

The 3 of them enter the tower known as Tartarus, ready for the moment to enter.

This is it, they've started their mission. Yet, what will come of them?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things:
> 
> 1\. Sorry for being late. I took a break over winter break to talk to my family and study a lot.
> 
> 2\. Expect the next chapter by hopefully next month. It should be pretty short, and it'll introduce a new character to the story, a character that I teased at the beginning of the story.
> 
> 3\. Spoiler alert, there's a lot of seemingly minuscule things in this story that are actually super important later on, so keep your eyes peeled.
> 
> Alright, thank you all for reading! Remember to leave a comment and a kudos!


	9. The Tower Known as Tartarus: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trio of Ren, Yu, and Morgana explore a few floors of Tartarus for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry that this took so long. I lost my internet last week after a snowstorm and I was also having an issue where I couldn't think of anything to put in the notes. But I'm back! Here are a few things that you need to know.
> 
> 1\. Once again not shouting out another story, mostly because I haven't been really reading any fan-fics lately. So, sorry about that.
> 
> 2\. I might not explain some things about hold-ups and shuffle time, but I assume you already know how both work by now.
> 
> 3\. if you catch any grammar mistakes, please notify me immediately.
> 
> Well, thank you for reading, and enjoy the chapter!

(Ren's POV)

The three of them enter the door of Tartarus and notice multiple peculiar things. First, the velvet room door was standing right in front of them in all its glory. Ren and Yu spot the door shining and glimmering. However, Morgana, despite being there multiple times, can't see the door.

"What are both of you staring at?" Morgana asks.

"The velvet room door."

"Shouldn't you be able to see the door, since you know about its existence and all that?" Ren ponders.

"Well, I can't see it..." Morgana aggressively states.

"Strange. Must be because you don't have a reason for entry," Yu concludes.

Secondly, the three of them spot a weird machine to the right of them. The machine emits a green light.

"What's that?" Yu asks, pointing at the machine.

"Most likely some type of transportation machine maybe?" Morgana theorizes.

Third, and finally, the three of them notice a metal door straight in front of them. Before that lies a staircase.

"I assume that metallic door over there is our entrance?" Morgana asks.

"Isn't this floor the first floor?" Ren counter argues.

"Well, I feel like the floor is more like a lobby than an actual floor," Morgana points out, "You could also say that I meant the first floor that contains shadows."

"Fair enough..."

"Is it just me or does this place feel a lot like Mementos?" Morgana asks.

"Mementos?" Yu questions.

"Remember that place I talked about in the road trip and referred to as 'everyone's palace' in that same trip?"

"Oh, now I finally remember," After discussing the Tartarus interior, talking about possible strategies, and preparing weapons and armor, they're ready to enter.

"Let's do this!" The three enter the door and are greeted by the first block, the Thebel block.

"Huh, I like the architecture of this place so far."

"I do have to agree, I'm sure that Yusuke would love this place," The three continue walking down the floor and see a few items dropped by shadows around the area.

"If that Makoto guy could make it up Tartarus with his base Personas, ad all our Persona's stats are maxed, we should be able to finish Tartarus quickly, right?"

"I assume so. However, you have to remember that we aren't as experienced as we used to be. It's been over three years since we last were using our Personas," Ren points out.

"That is true..." Morgana agrees, "I guess we do have to be careful, keep your guard up and keep your eyes peeled!" 

"Will do," Yu says with a straight face, before seeming extremely surprised all of a sudden.

"Why do you look like you've witnessed a murder all of a sudden?"

"Probably because I HAVE witnessed a murder before, but the actual reason I'm surprised is that you haven't see what's right ahead of us," Ren lifts his previously ducked head and notices a group of small shadows coming right their way.

"Oh, a shadow, sweet," The three of them prepare for battle as the shadows start charging their way to the trio.

_"Baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby YEAH!"_ Ren can hear some music play in the background of his head as he sees three small shadows appear before the trio.

First battle. Let's do this!" Yu yells.

"Before we begin the battle, should I remind the both of you of everything you need to know about battling?" Morgana asks.

"I think we're good Morgana!" Ren yells from the other side of the battlefield.

"Thor!" Thor appears behind Yu, "Maziodyne!" The move is reflected back at Yu.

"Ugh! This guy reflects electric attacks!"

"I wish we had Futaba right now to figure out their weakness..." Morgana yells.

"I could say that same thing about Rise!"

"Diego!" Morgana calls out, "Maragidyne!" The attack hits and knocks down every enemy.

"Nice job Morgana!" Yu calls out as Ren and Morgana go into a hold-up position, "Uh, what are the both of you doing?"

"We're doing a hold-up, obviously."

"I have no idea what that means. I only know knocking down enemies allows for a one more or an all-out attack."

"So, you don't know how to negotiate with shadows?"

"Wait, then how do you get Personas?"

"Fusing and shuffle time, obviously..."

"What's shuffle t-You know what, we'll talk about this after the battle. These are pretty weak shadows, let's just finish them off with an all-out attack!"

"Alright, let's do this!" The three of them take down the three shadows in an instant.

"Well, that was easy..." Morgana sighs, "I wanted a challenge..." They continue walking and eventually find the stairs to the next floor.

"Alright, explain what negotiations and hold-ups are."

"Right, so..." Ren starts explaining, " Negotiations are things that I get when I knock all the enemies down. After knocking them down, I commence a hold-up, where I can decide to do an all-out attack, negotiate, or get another attack. Basically, I can negotiate with shadows for money, items, and for them to be my Persona. Sometimes, negotiations may fail though. Anyway, what's shuffle time?"

"Oh, I just pick between some cards and gets some Personas, some penalties, the suit of cups, which heal my health, suit of coins, which give me money, suit of swords, which gives me skill cards, suit of wands, which gives me some experience, and arcana cards."  
  
  


"What do arcana cards do exactly?"

"Sometimes they give me effects depending on what I choose, but they usually just change how many cards I can draw during a shuffle time," Yu explains, "I can also get absolutely nothing sometimes."

"Huh, that seems neat," Suddenly, both hear a voice ringing in their heads.

_"Now, both Ren and Yu have awakened their new abilities each, Ren awakening to the ability to use shuffle time, and Yu has awakened to the power of using negotiations."_

"Sweet, now I have a new way to get shadows!"

"...And I still have no idea what at the two of you are even talking about," Morgana says, confused, as Ren pats Morgana on the head.

"Don't worry Morgana, it's just some wildcard stuff."

"Alright _JOKER_ , I won't worry about it..."

"Joker?" Yu questions.

"Right! Yu doesn't have a codename yet!"

"What do you mean codename?"

"Oh right. Codenames are what we call each other when we're fighting shadows, just so they don't know our actual names," Morgana explains.

"Mine is Joker, Morgana is Mona, Sumire is Violet, and the rest of the Phantom Thieves have codenames as well."

"Well, the Investigation Team didn't use codenames and yet we didn't have any shadows knowing our identities," Yu argues.

"Yeah, well, they sound cool," Joker points out.

"Fair point. Fine, what should mine be?"

"Maybe jacket, since you're wearing a jacket?" Ren recommends

"Certainly not. I refuse to be named after what I'm wearing," Yu refuses.

"Perhaps detective? Since you're a detective?" Mona recommends.

"I do like that somewhat, however, I do want something a bit more unique," Yu explains, "Lightning, since I'm quick like lightning in battle and am quick to try and solve a mystery. Also, Narukami is similar to Raikou, the god of thunder, lightning, and storms."

"Alright, I guess that could work," Mona approves, "From now on when exploring Tartarus, you'll be referred to as lightning!"

"Alrighty then, let's finish this dungeon!"

* * *

Lightning, Joker, and Mona finish the first four floors, defeat the enemies on the fifth floor, finish floors six to nine, defeat the massive enemy on floor ten, finish floor eleven to floor thirteen, take down the enemies on floor fourteen, and finally finish floor fifteen, arriving at floor sixteen: the top of Thebal. On floor sixteen, they see a few items, an access point, and some stairs.

"Oh, it's one of those weird machines I keep finding on most of the floors..." Lightning notices.

"I wonder what it is..." Mona wonders.

"Well, I mean, there's the stairs, why don't we go?" Joker asks impatiently.

"Actually, I think that's enough floors enough for today," Joker looks at Lightning with a very confusing look.''

"First of all, sixteen floors is nothing and we can do a lot more. Second of all, how do we get back down?"

"First of all, clearing one block in one day isn't that bad. Second, good question," While Joker and Lightning instantly starts trying to find a way to get back to the first floor, but Mona decided to check out the green machine first.

"Hey, what does this-" Mona accidentally touches the machine, and the three of them all teleport back to floor one.

"Well, that was easy to figure out..." Lightning sighs as they once again notice the big green machine on the first floor.

"That looks similar to the machine we used to get back here on the first floor," Joker realizes.

"Maybe it has to do with those machines that I kept touching on those floors with bosses on them?" Mona asks, "They look similar and they turned green after I touched them, so maybe that means I activated them?" Joker walks over to the machine and touches it. He feels like he has a choice to go to any of the floors with the big machines that Mona touched.

"Huh, that's weird."

"Well, we can figure this out later..."

"Let's check out the velvet room. You stay here Mona."

"Fine..." Joker walks right into the velvet room door as Lightning does the same.

* * *

As the duo enter the room, they're welcomed by three female angry velvet room attendants yelling at each other while a new attendant they've never seen before, a familiar child with an eggshell helmet, a woman with a cap and is holding a purse, and Igor sitting in his chair. Ren and Yu decide to open their mouth to speak, but they're interrupted by Margaret, Elizabeth, and Lavenza arguing vigorously.

"Well, maybe if you did your job CORRECTLY, sister, maybe Nyx and Erebus wouldn't meet each other again!" Margaret yells.

"I'm sorry that I can't stop them this year, they're TOO POWERFUL FOR ME TO DEFEAT!" Elizabeth defends.

"That still doesn't excuse you! NOW, the Tricksters have to SAC-" Lavenza almost finishes her sentence, but the three of them quickly realize that they've arrived in the velvet room.

"Uh, what was that?" Yu asks, and too bad for them, it may be a while until they completely understand what Lavenza was going to say...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I really needed to get this chapter out in time. The next chapter will be with the thieves and Investigation Team. Also, I know Lightning isn't the best codename, but I really couldn't think of anything else. Anyway, thank you for reading and goodbye!


End file.
